"Trump drove the Arizona senator into retirement with his blistering criticism. Now the fate of the president's high court nominee may be in Flake's hands.
"Jeff Flake once said Donald Trump didn’t deserve to win the presidency. He later wrote the book, literally, on why Trump is destroying the GOP.
"Now Flake holds the keys to a Supreme Court confirmation Trump prizes dearly — and could soon yank them away.
"Flake flashed a yellow light Sunday night on Brett Kavanaugh’s high court bid, telling POLITICO that he won't support advancing the nomination this week if fellow senators don’t do more to hear out a woman accusing the nominee of sexual assault more than three decades ago. Opposition from the Arizona Republican wouldn’t doom Kavanaugh outright, but it already has ratcheted up political pressure on a GOP struggling to keep Trump’s Supreme Court nominee from a full implosion.
"Flake is a charter member of the GOP’s anti-Trump caucus, one of only a few senators in the president’s party who freely tee off on the president’s handling of issues from trade to Russia, though they rarely actively undercut his agenda. Another member of that caucus, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), also called on Sunday night for a delay in the Kavanaugh confirmation process.
"But Flake, unlike Corker, sits on the Judiciary Committee. A "no" vote from him on the narrowly divided panel would force Republicans to bring Kavanaugh to the floor with a negative recommendation, or without a committee vote at all, in order to keep the nomination on track." . . .
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